Starts off good, but falls short

Rating: 3/10 (24 August 2014)

The Island is a film directed by Michael Bay, who's previous work were Armageddon, Bad Boys 1 and 2, The Rock and Pearl Harbor. His previous movies were good, but not great popcorn action films that made a fortune at the box office. Yet even he can make several duds, too. Pearl Harbor, Armageddon and Bad Boys 2 were examples of overblown, loud, special effects duds. This movie however, has a great beginning, but the problem is that it looks like it was directed by a different filmmaker.
The movie takes place in the futuristic year of 2019, where citizens live underneath the Earth, cutting off their communication to the outside world. The main character of the story, Lincoln Six Echo, (Ewan McGregor), is one of those citizens. His day first starts off with him losing an left shoe. Then, he goes down to the cafeteria, where he is not allowed to eat bacon due to his health record at the cafeteria. He does, however, forms an friendly relationship with a female citizen who lives in this society. Her name is Jordan Two Delta, (Scarlett Johansson). The beginning of the movie tells us that Lincoln has a recurring nightmare about driving a boat in the middle of the ocean and drowning. Of course, the movie does set up an very creepy side to this futuristic world. The one thing this society depends on is the lottery in which the inhabitants of the world can win a trip to go to the Island. But, what is the Island?
McGregor's character soon take his chance to escape from the underground society along with Johansson and soon enough, the two fugitives find themselves venturing out into the outside world. However, they are not accustomed with the new surroundings. Everything seems deserted and barren. Risking his life, Lincoln and Jordan decides to find out the answers by joining with another inhabitant from the underground world, (Steve Bucemi). Bucemi explains to the two that they are clones and since they are part of an genetically engineered society, they have no actual memory of their actual parents. Together, Lincoln and Jordan decides to seek out more answers when they arrive to Los Angeles. Right about there is where The Island goes completely wrong.
The first half of the movie is very well directed with its inside look of this completely dystopian society. The art direction is very well done and I like how the citizens of this world wear different colored outfits to show what kind of identification or identity they are. McGregor and Johansson are good in their roles as the two clones, but sometimes I felt that their dialogue runs a little bit too simplistic. I also love the supporting cast including Steve Bucemi, who helps them get to Los Angeles and also the performance by Djimon Hounsou. He's particularly a good actor in this film. His job is to catch the two fugitives before they tell everyone back underground the truth about the Island.
But, what bothered me is the second half of the movie. This is when Michael Bay steps in. When McGregor and Johansson get to Los Angeles, I felt the movie slow down and came to a screeching halt when the two of them are being chased by Hounsou's goons. Like all of Bay's films, there's is a lot of action sequences. One example is the scene where the two clones hitch a ride in the back of a trailer carrying metal tubing. Throughout that entire scene, the characters are locked into a scene that isn't worth my time or my patience. It almost as if Michael Bay put these two actors on a treadmill and have them run through a series of dodging giant obstacles such as falling building debris, the metal tubing and a whole lot of smashed up cars. Not the least interesting.
The story is perhaps similar to those who've seen other science fiction movies where the protagonists escapes from their dystopian society and exposed the real truth behind all of the corruption. The movie Logan's Run is a perfect example. In that film, the two main characters escaped from their own world and venture into the outside world and sees the obvious difference between these two completely different worlds. Here, it is the same thing. As the special effects go, they are good, but not at all great. The futuristic world of Los Angeles in the year 2019 has been a whole lot more better in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner since it had a dark and depressing atmosphere. In The Island, it isn't even interesting or good enough.
I guess Michael Bay had a very good movie going for him, I imagine. But, the fact that his over-the-top action sequences get in the way of a predictable and eye-opening story that doesn't work. I know that Michael Bay isn't the best director of the action genre, but I can't give him the credit of putting in a mindless and loud action sequence. If The Island kept going with its story about human cloning and ethics, then maybe it would've been great. I really love to see more movies about human cloning. I know that they made a decent one called The 6th Day with Arnold Schwarznegger, but I am still waiting to see a serious science fiction that really challenges the audience toe explore the world of human cloning, not highway accidents. â˜…â˜… 1/2 2 1/2 stars.